Avoid the Adam subject. Right. She could try to do that, but she knew that the subject was going to come up more often between the two of them since, well, they really were the only people either of them to talk to about.

"Did...something happen between you and him?" she asked nervously. If he did anything to her lion sister, Kurumi would have no problem slapping him across the face again.

Kurumi then leaned into Selina when the younger girl put her arm around her shoulders. Her expression hardened a bit and a frown appeared on her lips when Selina joked with her. Yeah, right, her the lioness on the prowl. Her father would just looooove to hear that. "One of them is on the Quidditch team with us...Ali...and the other is...Jonathan..." Her face was peeking out through her fingers ever so slightly. "Selina...I'm scared of being rejected again. I'm scared that...what I'm feeling might be...wrong..."

William sits down by "The Whomping Willow."

Sam saw a boy sitting by the willow.He might get harmed,
"Hey,,,careful man....you know what tree is this ..don't you?"

" Yes. I know about the tree" Willaim told the boy. " My name is William montcenaggio, but my friends call me Willaim Starr' he introduced himself to the boy. ' I was just thinking about classes" William said to the boy.

As his Gryffincess spoke a kind of numbed shock and immense sadness was etched on his face. Is that how it was? He knew his friends didn’t get along with her, but despite that he managed to keep a kind of truce amongst them. But apparently it wasn’t the case when he wasn’t around. Then she said something that nearly had him choking on his own tongue. “Stepping aside??!? What do you mean stepping aside?! Are you…. are you breaking up with me… because of my friends?” It sounded preposterous to him, and not something he knew of Lexi. But he can feel her pain, he knew exactly what she meant by no matter how strong one is, they reach a breaking point. And it was killing him that he didn’t even realize what was going on, she had to suffer because of certain things about him. He gritted his jaw and blinked back the tears “Lexi, if you leave me, its because you don’t love me anymore. Just say that. And I promise I will leave you in peace. But if you won’t then I will keep my word-- I love you with all my heart and I will never ever leave you, good times or bad.”

“Luv, it wasn’t hard to figure out if I should propose to you, it was hard if I should propose at all. My folks, theirs were like a fairytale, but it didn’t end like a fairytale at all.” More like a nightmare you couldn’t wake out of “But like I said, the other option was far worse, to live alone without you? I knew what it was like after we broke up. Every minute of each day it was hell for me. I don’t want to live my life like that forever”

He bowed his head ashamed “And you’re right, I’m sorry. I… I’m trying, to control the monster.” The green eyed one but also the one that wanders. “Starting today, you have my word, I’ll only have eyes for you.” he said as he cupped her face.

He laced his fingers within hers, feeling the ring press against his skin. “Luv, a lot of people make promises that they don’t fulfill in the end. I’m not like that. I cant assure you that we will never fight, or never get into bad times. But I will promise you that I will do my darndest best, to be the best man I can be for you, not just for the first few years, but for the rest of our lives. Till death do us part.” and with that he leaned in and sealed his promise with a kiss.

Didn't love him anymore... what the hell was he on about. Blinking at him several times she shook her head. "I didn't say I don't love you. That's not what I said at all. I said I want you with all of my heart. I mean that. I haven't fought this hard for you to just... lose it all of a sudden. But I am being worn down." Truth. She was tired of the nonsense from others. "Never leave me again. You left once before... even just for a little while. You can't walk out when things get tough, Stradivarius. You cannot. It makes me think you are giving up. Even if just a little bit. Who's to say that the next time won't be the LAST time." She was speaking VERY quietly near his ear so as to not be overheard by anyone nearby.

She listened to his go on about their time apart. She had broken... badly. Taking refuge in the Ravenclaw dorms she had lain about and cried for what seemed like an eternity. Yeah. She was not a fan of that time, either. "Fairytale's are for little kids, Stradivarius. That stuff doesn't happen in real life. Things get tough. A lot. There are fabulous times and there are really rotten times to be had. That's just the way things go." She gave a little shrug and sniffled a bit before wiping her nose across his robes.

"I don't care who you are friends with. They can all hate me for all I care. Girls and blokes alike, but please... yes stop looking at some of these girls like you want to throw them down and snog their faces off. It makes me so mad I could scream... and not to mention it makes me sad. It makes me feel like they have something I don't," she said weakly. It was true. She was insecure. Like whoa.

Lexi kissed him back and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. Pulling back after a few lingering moments she looked him straight in his eyes and whispered, "If you break that promise I will kill you. You realize that, yeah?" Then a smirk played at her lips.

She still wasn't convinced they were making the right decision right then... but she had an idea of what to do before the term ended. Something that would change things greatly. Mhm. "I love you."

Selina tried her hardest not to let the whole Adam thing get to her. She and Adam were now on... decent terms, but that did not mean that she was comfortable with Kurumi and Adam speaking. He had hurt her lion sister so terribly that Kurumi was distraught for months. She was not comfortable with the two of them being friends because she knew that Kurumi was still easily affected by him. It was only natural... the pair of them had gine through so much together. It was THAT fact that made her uncomfortable.

"No... Nothing happened Kurumi. I am just keeping an eye on you because I don't trust him."

Then Kurumi said something that did not surprise Selina, "Yeah I knew about Johnathan.... Ali is a bit of a surprise, but okay. And you can't be afraid to just go for it Kurumi. I know that Treyen hurt you, but if you let every boy that you like pass you by because some jerk, who I still owe a bludger to the head to, messed with your heart well then you will miss something or someone great. I know that liking two boys can be confusing... i know that now, but you have to just try. If you dont yoy always ask what if."

Kurumi sighed and hugged her legs closer. "I don't trust him either you know," she replied softly. She thought Selina ought to know that much. Just...something inside her couldn't stay away from him. The fourth year didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Probably wasn't the best of things when she really sat down to think about it.

Kurumi sat in silence as Selina spoke. Yep, dive right in. That is what her reading had just told her. Ug, why did she have to be so timid and unsure of herself when it came to relationships, and not just those of the romantic variety. Before Kurumi could say anything more on her situation, Selina threw her a curve ball. "Wait...you know that liking two boys can be confusing?" This was news to her.

Selina knew her head that Kurumi did not trust Adam either, but when it came to affairs of the heart the heart was sacred. It doesn't know right from wrong, good from bad; it only feels. It wants and it wants what it wants because it doesn't know any better. The heart may not always be right, but at least it was honest. And Selina was not sure if Kurumi, at the moment, was on the same wave length with her heart and her head, "I know you don't. I just wanna keep an eye on things..."

Then Kurumi said something that made Selina blush. Had she said that out loud? She had not meant to say that. It was a mental note that she had made that she could have never have dreamed of verbalizing. She was still trying to figure that whole situation out and honestly Selina did not now how she felt. It was all really confusing. She was thirteen for Merlin's sake, well thirteen for a few more months. She scratched the back of her head and laughed dryly, "W-what are you talking about, psh... psh that's crazy talk. I didn't say that... the words that I said, psh. What is this nonsense that you.... psh. I mean you said and then I replied and there were words that came out and you know... stuff. Psh... erm, I don't know what you are talking about."

Kurumi nudged Selina playfully. "I'm glad I have you looking out for me," she said with a smile. If only one of them was a guy, her and Selina would make the perfect couple. Bromances had nothing on them. Nothing. What were they? A Sistance? That sounded like some sort of dreaded disease. She would have to come up with a better name.

Kurumi straightened her legs and eyed the third year. Yeah, Selina was about as good a liar as she was at brewing potions. "Selina," she said firmly. Nothing more really needed to be said on the matter, right? Selina knew what Kurumi was implying.

She knew that look. She had seen it a million times. It was the Selina-you're-a-terrible-liar-and-I-know-that-you-are-lying-to-me-so-don't-lie-to-me look. That look had been received by a plethora of people... was she really that terrible? She thought she was pretty sneaky when it came to that sort of thing.

So she sighed and put her head between her legs, "Fine." How was she going to approach this was Kurumi. She herself could barely process the next sentence. It was so much for the redhead to think about lately so she had been avoiding it. She told herself after it first happened that she wouldn't avoid it, but she had been. And so had he... WHAT WERE THEY DOING?

She took a deep breath and whispered, "I may have sort have, kind of.... kissed Gideon." Her face was so red at that point she was redder than a freshly picked tomato. Oh Merlin.

A triumphant smile appeared on Kurumi's lips when Selina admitted defeat. Honestly, the two could keep nothing from each other. Well, save one thing. Kurumi HAD actually nibbled on a chocolate frog the other day and enjoyed it. She felt as though she were betraying Selina though, going back to chocolate frogs after everything that had happened in Charms class. Some things were just best left unsaid, right?

Hands flew to Kurumi's mouth to muffle a squeak that was just dying to get out. SELINAHADDONEWHAT?! Wait a second, how do you kind of kiss someone? You either did or you didn't, right? Or had Selina tripped, Gideon caught her, and they just happened to fall in such a manner that they had kissed. OH! It was like something from a drama!

She didn't even have time to process just how awkward and uncomfortable this now made her whenever she would be around Gideon or the pair of them together - she didn't feel any changes between her and Selina. Why would there? Right now though, she was focused entirely on her best friend in front of her. The one who seemed to be taking the bull firmly by the horns.

"So...he is the other guy?" she asked. Sort of obvious really.

Kurumi was quiet for a really long time after Selina admitted that she had kissed Gideon. Well it was more mutual than anything else, but she did not want to give the girl a heart attack. She did not even know what it meant. That was a lie; she knew what it meant the two of them had just sort of ignored what it meant though.

Selina knew that she had a crush Simon, but he was older than she was... he was a safe crush because he was always out of reach. That was something her father really enjoyed. But Gideon... he was different. There was something about him that drove Selina crazy but also made her smile. With Simon he was a good older lion who only saw her as a twelve year old little girl when he was going off into the world. Why should he see her as anything else? That was all she was last year. And he protected and made her feel like she was a part of something, a family when he was at Hogwarts.

Then there was Gideon who drove her insane. He fought back with her and like to playfully poke fun at her. At the same time though he never took it beyond playing around and there was a level of respect that he had for her that both scared her and made her smile. He was different. A good different. He was Gideon... she was Selina. They were nothing more and nothing less and she honestly didn't mind. They were themselves.

Selina never felt nervous around him like she did with Simon to a point. She could just be herself and he liked her as a person for that. Now if he liked her beyond that she did not know... she wanted to know because maybe that could give her some insight as to how she was feeling.

This was all so confusing! She was not Kurumi. Boys did not like Selina... she was the best friend who was always there to lend a shoulder. Nothing more, nothing less.

When Kurumi finally spoke Selina gave an empty, dry, single laugh, "If you can even call it that. Simon was more of a big brother to me than anything else. It was extremely one-sided the crush I had. Why wouldn't it be? He was five years older than me..." Her eyes then sought Kurumi's and she said, "Kurumi... I don't know what to do. I'm not like you. Boys tend to not like me. I'm just the best friend. B-but that's okay. I mean I am comfortable being that. It's safe... it's my place, you know?" This whole situation was throwing the redhead for a loop.

"Sounds like how I felt about Treyen if you ask me," she said with a faint smile. "Just because he is older doesn't make the feelings any less important We...can't help how we feel, even if we know those feelings will never be returned." Her and Selina were a mess. Chasing after boys that could never be theirs. People often said dream big or go home, but there was a limit to those dreams, right?

Wait...not like her? Boys liked Kurumi? Well, if you wanted to count Connor then there were two, but Kurumi wasn't sure if there were those that liked her beyond the friendship stage. That is what frightened her so much about Ali and Jonathan. She had no idea what they were feeling and she didn't want to stick her neck out there again, only to have her head chopped off.

Not a very pleasant visual.

"Weren't you just telling me that I had to go for it?" she asked, playfully judging Selina. "Sounds like you might need to take your own advice. Although...there is one important question. Did you kiss him, or did he kiss you." That could make all the difference in the world really.

Selina looked at Kurumi and narrowed her eyes a little playfully, "Kurumi... he was seventeen. I had a crush on a guy who was way to old for me and I think it was more of the fact that I admired him more than anything else you know? I don't know. Simon is a weird subject for me. I think I'm over him, but still the thought of him makes me smile. Is that weird?"

The two of them were a circus, a train wreck, another other analogy that stood for odd. Why was it that the two girls could never get a good grasp on how they were feeling? Every other girl at Hogwarts could flirt with a boy for a few weeks and then bam! The two started dating. Kurumi and Selina were not like that. They tended to be more reserved when it came to the whole boy subject. Maybe it was a fear that the two of them shared- getting hurt. Whatever it was it frustrated Selina to no end. There was a part of her that wanted to march up to Gideon and demand to know what was going on. The other part was afraid to hear the answer and she had no idea why. She knew that was how Kurumi was feeling about Johnathan and Ali.

She wrapped an arm back around Kurumi's shoulder, "I get it, you know? The whole Ali and Johnathan thing. I mean at least I get part of it. You don't want to get hurt, I don't want to get hurt... we are a mess."

Selina laughed, "You're right, I was the one just telling you to go for it. It's kind of hard to switch the mirror around on yourself though, Kurumi. I mean, I can give advice from dawn 'till dusk. But when it involves me I choke." Did he kiss her or did she kiss him? That was a hard question, "It was weird... I mean I asked him, stupidly, what he would do if I kissed him. He said he didn't know and then he leaned down and I leaned up. I think I may have kissed him first, but he kissed me back. I don't know. I was my first kiss for Merlin's sake. A lot was going on internally."

Selina could say all she wanted to about Simon. Feelings were feelings and trying to put reason to them was only causing one to lie to themselves. "Not weird at all, as long as you don't think my thinking of Treyen," and Adam at times, "weird." Her smile faded slightly. "I...I don't know how to act around him anymore though. I've never been so uncomfortable around someone before. He seems to already be over what happened...whereas I am only beginning to deal with it all. I hate Potions even more now."

Kurumi giggled softly. A mess? That was sort of an understatement, wasn't it? Had they ever not been a mess?

"I am not even sure if I really like like them," she said blushing. "I've spent a lot of time with both of them. Jonathan even gave me a piggy back to the Great Hall when I lost my shoe. Ali and I stayed up almost until morning after the match because of his injury."

Kurumi's cheeks blushed when Selina mentioned it being her first kiss. Kurumi still remembered hers like it was yesterday. It had happened so suddenly, and not in the place that she though it would be. An empty classroom and it had been just her and Adam. It was before she knew he was going to leave for Mexico, but not too long before. She wished now that she would have known. She probably would not have allowed herself to have been kissed at that time. The thoughts of what could have been lingered on her mind far too often now. They were holding her back from what could be right now. "Sounds to me like you both like each other," she said softly. "I'm jealous, you know. Gideon isn't insane and jumping into fires professing his love for you." THAT was a pretty big statement.

Selina watched as Kurumi spoke about Treyen and Simon, and underneath all of that external facade, Adam. The Gryffindor Prefect did make a point to a degree about feelings. They had no basis for logic. They were just being. A part of self that was innate in every person. And they stunk. Why couldn't people just control their feelings like they controlled the weather with their magic? Life would be much easier if life worked that way. "Well..." Selina started this sentence very sensitively, "maybe the reason why that that is the case is because he has Ellie..." She felt awful saying it, but it was true. Treyen was over it because he had some other girl whose feelings he cared more about, which was awful of him. She smiled weakly at Kurumi and said, "Beater bat option is still on the table by the way. I'm sure quite a few people would love to help too."

A piggy back ride? Late night chats alone in the Common Room? Scandal! Selina poked fun a little at her friend and said, "Eh gasp! The scandal, Kurumi! What would your father think?"

Sounds to me like you both like each other. That simple statement made Selina blush for unknown reason. This whole situation made Selina blush every time she thought about it and she had no idea why. Boys-- especially curly haired, green eyed ones-- confused Selina to no end. Why did he/they have to complicate things for Selina. She was contented to just ignore everything that had occurred, but she had a feeling that neither Gideon nor Kurumi would let her.

"I-I don't think that's true," Selina blushed. Why was she blushing? Selina Arden Skylar rarely blushed. It was not something she did easily. That and concede defeat, "We are just... well I don't know what we are." At the mention of Connor, Selina rolled her eyes, "And that was just weird. Let's all agree to that."

Kurumi sighed. Selina was right. Deep down Kurumi did have the thought that Treyen had been able to just cast her aside because now all their cards were on the table and he fancied Ellie over her. Why wouldn't he be able to move on? He had lost nothing whereas she...she had lost a lot. "No need for the Beater's bat," she said with a sad shake of the head. "At least, not anywhere that could cost our house points." THAT was a joke Skylar. Don't get any serious ideas.

Her eyes widened. If Father had attempted to send several dozen howlers to Treyen and was still considering sending some to Adam, there was no telling what he would do to either of the two boys in question. Only one thing was for sure, the man wouldn't run up and give them a hug. "I...don't want to think about that."

Kurumi poked Selina's cheek. "I beg to differ. You might not have your hair to show your emotions like I do, but your cheeks are ding a fine job." At least she was laughing now. While she didn't dare voice this thought out loud for fear that Selina would take that Beater's bat to her head, she sometimes wondered if she had perhaps let something that could have been good slip away. After all, no one she knew had ever felt THAT strongly for her. "...yeah...weird..."

Alyssa arrived at the Whomping Willow. It was definitely a huge and dangerous tree and she knew that if she got hit by one of its branches, she would be visiting the Hospital Wing's nurse to heal some broken bones.

She had heard a lot about the Tree and the strength of the blows. She figured it was worth a try. "The tree isn't human so maybe this will work," Alyssa thought to herself.

Waving her wand at the Whomping Willow, she said "Immobulus". The Whomping Willow immediately stopped waving its branches. She quickly took out the box and poured the walnut out. The walnut fell on the ground on one of the tree's roots that was growing out of the ground, within reach of it's whomping branches. Then she limped away from the tree making sure that she was out of reach and waited for her spell to wear off.

The moment the spell wore off, the Whomping Willow started waving its branches. It seemed to sense that there was a foreign object lying on one of its roots and its branches started hitting the walnut with great force. Again and again, the walnut was hit repeatedly by the Whomping Willows' branches. Alyssa waited for about an hour until she figured that the walnut had been hit enough times that any "normal" walnut would have been cracked open by now. Freezing the Whomping Willow with the Immobulus spell again, Alyssa quickly scooped up the walnut using the lid of the box and rolled it back into the box.

She ran off, away from the tree ,looking back to see that the spell had wore off, and that the Whomping Willow was back to normal. She slowed down when she was a safe distance away and looked into the box to see whether the walnut had cracked open under heavy weight of the Whomping Willows' branches. "OMG!!You have to be kidding me!!"Alyssa exclaimed when she looked inside the box.

"I know ...I've seen you in the classes...I'm Sam and I'm also a second year.
Have you finished the home works of Magical History class?...'cause I haven't"
Sam said immediately.

Selina felt awful saying that to Kurumi but it was true. Treyen was not going to feel bad for Kurumi because the Badger was too involved in his own life to even care how he affected others. Deep down Selina really did not like him. She felt that the level of his prissy little ego was a bit out of hand. He couldn't even let Kurumi, who he claimed was his friend, get over him in a nice and clean way. Everything with him was excuses and then he was mad at her for NO reason last year. He needed a good bat to the head... maybe it would shake his brains up a little to become a decent human being.

Then Kurumi said that she could use the bat if she did it where no house points could be taken away. For a moment a broad smiled appeared on the redheads face until she realized that Kurmi was joking, "B-but Kurumi... ugh fine."

Mr. Charles Hollingberry always made Selina laugh. Although she had only met the man in passing when he had dropped off Kurumi that one summer to Whitley it was enough to know what kind of father he was. Besides Selina had heard the stories from Kurumi and he seemed like a very funny guy. Kurumi's reaction was enough for Selina to let out a good hearty laugh, "Oh come on Kurumi. You can't tell me that would not be hysterical."

She was blushing? Her hands flew up to her cheeks to cover up the blush. It was not that she did not want to blush, it was just that she did not want anyone else to see her blush. It was embarrassing. How could she just blush and not control it? Then again she could not control why she was blushing either. Merlin why was this so complicated?

"What should I do?"

Ronnie made her way through the snow to the Whomping Willow. She smiled at all the snow. It was so beautiful, laid out all over Hogwarts and the grounds. She fell back into it, feeling her body slowly sink into it. She laid there, staring up at the sky as snow flakes swirled down onto her face. She wiped them off from time to time, scrunching up her nose as they tickled it.

" Well, I did knoe I was popular for being in classes" William told Sam. Your name is Sam, right?" Willaim asked him. Yes, I finished The History of Magic class a long time ago" William explained to Sam.

"Nor do I.You may not popular but it won't stop people noticing you...At least I know the people who's in my class...."Sam said.Then he heard the giant clock's ding...ding...ding......
"oh it's the time...I got to find my mom's locket.One of my friend promised me that she's gonna join me at this time....So I've got to go ...."

Rose shivered as she was walking up to the Whomping Willow where she saw Ronnie, and grinned mischieviously. She scooped some snow into her hand, sculped it into a snowball, and chucked it at Ronnie. 'SNOWBALL FIGHT!' she yelled, before starting to make a base.